Corruption at top rung of China’s ancient petition system sparks calls for reform

An exposé of corruption at the top level of China’s centuries-old petition system has confirmed public fears of flaws in the set-up and sparked calls for greater reform.

Since ancient times, many of China’s disenfranchised, as a last resort, have aired their grievances to the top leadership in Beijing using written letters and in-person visits.

The State Bureau for Letters and Calls in Beijing receives petitions and visits by individuals and channels their complaints and grievances to the relevant government entities.

But for years, top officials in Beijing, including the former vice-chairman of the bureau, Xu Jie, took bribes to make cases disappear, according to an article published on Sunday by Prosecutorial View.

Xu had amassed gifts and cash worth 5.5 million yuan (US$796,900 or HK$6.18 million) and was jailed for 13 years in 2015, the official magazine of the Shanghai government prosecutors said.

Xu and a crew of underlings had helped local bureaus from across China fiddle the details of cases so they never appeared in the records, helping to avoid embarrassment for the provincial officials, the magazine said.